The invention pertains to mailbox locks and locking mailboxes.
The security of mail delivery is limited by the lack of security offered by conventional mailboxes. A conventional mailbox is readily opened so that mail deposited within is easily retrievable by anyone with access to the mailbox, including vandals, thieves, passers-by, as well as friends and relatives. For some businesses and individuals, mailbox security is so lacking that the intended recipients elect to have important mail (e.g., mail bearing credit card numbers and other important identification numbers) directed to an alternate location such as a Post Office box. In other cases, mail recipients insist that payroll, pension, or social security checks be deposited directly in the recipient""s bank account, so that only a confirmation of deposit is mailed to an insecure mailbox. Mailbox vandalism and thefts from mailboxes are particularly serious problems in rural or other sparsely populated areas, and secure mailboxes for these locations are especially needed.
One way to reduce mail theft is to use a locking mailbox. For example, in multi-family dwellings, a mail carrier is often provided with a key to open a panel that contains an array of individual mailboxes, one for each family mail recipient. After delivering mail to the individual mailboxes, the mail carrier closes and locks the panel. The individual mailboxes are accessible by the respective families using individual keys and the mail is secure. Unfortunately, locking mailboxes of this type are unsuitable for single-family residences because the mail carrier must carry a key and unlock a mailbox to deliver mail to each residence, greatly increasing the time required to deliver the mail.
Other mailbox locks and locking mailboxes are disclosed in, for example, Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,108,440; Marendt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,215; Wicker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,674; Speece, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,718; and Coultas et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,126. These mailbox locks tend to be insecure, expensive, require special tools for installation, or are difficult to install. Therefore, improved mailbox locks and locking mailboxes are needed.
According to one aspect of the invention, mailbox locks are provided comprising a lock mechanism and a strike bar, both adapted for mounting the lock to a mailbox. In one representative embodiment, the lock mechanism includes a handle and a bolt guide connected to the handle. A locking plate, rotatable by a lock, is situated to inhibit the motion of a bolt guide in which a bolt slides. The locking plate restrains the bolt guide and the handle whenever the lock is in a locked position so that the handle cannot be used to move the bolt, but the bolt remains slidable within a sliding range determined by the bolt guide. The strike bar defines an opening cavity and a locking cavity that can be situated to receive the bolt. In the locked position of the lock, the bolt is restrained by the locking cavity while the bolt is slidable into and out of the opening cavity by sliding within the bolt guide.
In another embodiment, the mailbox lock also includes a mounting plate for the lock mechanism. The mounting plate defines a slot that receives screws or analogous fasteners for securing the lock assembly to a mailbox, and the lock mechanism is slidable along the mounting slot to position the lock mechanism with respect to the strike bar. In yet another embodiment, the strike bar defines a slot that receives screws or analogous fasteners for securing the strike plate to a mailbox so that the strike bar is slidable along the mounting slot.
The lock mechanism can include a spring or analogous means that urges the bolt toward the strike bar. A guard plate can be situated between the bolt and a surface of a mailbox to which the key lock mechanism is mounted. In addition, a pin or the like can be attached to the bolt, wherein a slot is defined in the bolt guide to receive the pin and define the sliding range of the bolt.
A lockable mailbox according to the invention can comprise a housing having an interior surface and an exterior surface and defining an interior volume. A movable door is provided to close the interior volume defined by the housing. A mailbox lock as summarized above is attached to the housing and the door. In some embodiments, the strike bar is attached to the housing and the lock mechanism is attached to the door. In other embodiments, the strike bar is attached to the door and the lock mechanism is attached to the housing. In additional embodiments, the lock mechanism and the strike bar are attached to exterior surfaces of the door and the housing.
These and other features of the invention are described in the following detailed description that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.